SANCTUARY
The man, or beggar, rocking the sideburns looked fairly harmless. He was swinging his axe like a champ and kept splitting wood in half like an assassin wasn't watching. As I said, most were squatters, the first of my contracts was the furthest south of them all. I decided I'd get a carriage and start out here in Ivarstead before heading north. Voice requested it.
The Black Sacrament was performed for Narfi months ago. No one has come calling since he is a lesser threat.
"What did he do?" I have to ask. I lean against a nearby tree, far enough away so he can't see me but close enough that I can watch his every move.
Nothing. He's insane after his sister left him. Her corpse sits downstream in the river, yet, he has no idea. One of the citizens of Ivarstead performed the Black Sacrament because Narfi was stealing food.
I close my eyes, "So? I've done the same."
According to the one who performed the Black Sacrament, you should be dead too.
"If he's innocent, just insane, does he have to die?" I whisper, maybe I can get out of this.
You have no choice. You are one with the Dark Brotherhood now, Eve. It's the first time she's addressed me by name. The Dark Brotherhood follows those who have performed the Sacrament. It doesn't matter if you believe them to be innocent, the caller did not. You are not meant to determine justice.
A branch snaps with my grip. "Then don't tell me about their life story. How about that?"
Voice chuckles, Whatever you say, my child.
Panic rises with the moral conflict. If I kill this guy, I can justify it by saying he didn't have long anyways. If he's stealing food, he'll get thrown into jail eventually. And with the characters I've met while shackled in chains, this guy might not have that long. But if I follow the Black Sacrament, someone could have easily performed one on Bryn. Or Vex. Or Penny. Gabriel. Even Delvin. The list goes on, it would only be a matter of time.
If the Black Sacrament is performed on them someday, then I would not let you take their contract. She whispers. Mocking me.
Decision made, I pull out the Nightingale Bow, figured it would be easier from afar. I load it, just as Bryn had taught me, and draw. Narfi stands up straight from his chopping block. Almost like he heard something. If he did, I make sure he doesn't hear the arrow piercing his chest. He falls dead on the wood and the contract is complete.
I watch his body for a minute, pray to the divines, and hike my way back up the hill.
As promised, Voice doesn't breathe a word about the man near the river. We were now near Windhelm and getting closer to Solitude. As before, I watch him for awhile. Make sure no one will miss him or come running. Twenty minutes pass, then I fling the ice spike. Straight through the heart. A groan sounds in the clearing, but I'm the only one to hear it.
His blood is still fresh. When I approach, I consider drinking from him. But I have standards. Instead, I prop him up on one of the trees so at first glance it won't be obvious he's a dead man. If that will do any good.
Silence surrounds me while I walk back to the carriage. It's pretty far from here, for good reason. Before we leave, I will need blood from the driver. That contract was far too tempting for my comfort.
"Tell me about Astrid. Why not choose her to do all this? And why is the Brotherhood down on it's luck?"
If I'm stuck with her, I may as well get any information I can.
Astrid is incompetent. And the Dark Brotherhood in Skyrim is not functioning well because I am not there to oversee it. She whispers.
"Got it. What about the assassins who came after me before? Why were they?"
Mistakes are seldom made, but when they are, they are noticeable. I didn't want them to go after you, but I was in no place to stop them…
It's almost like she's whining. "Bullshit. You could have stopped them any time you wanted." I make my way over the ridge. Carriage is forty feet away now.
But that, Eve, is the music of life. You were the one to take them down. You did not need my help. In those moments you were strong.
Strong? I was always weak to her. In every endeavor I took and every decision I made that wasn't for the good of the Night Mother. I had to be turned into a vampire, indirectly by her, to be of any use.
I don't say anything and let the silence speak for itself. Carriage driver nods as I approach, I think he saw the blood on me and decided not to ask questions. Good. For every throat I drink I don't want to be compelled to slit another one.
The final contract. I'm now in Dawnstar, refreshed and energized. The city crowds around the coast. It's not much, kind of like Ivarstead, but it's a good port. With nothing to do with the sea and everything to do with the mines, my contract smelts another pickaxe.
I watch her movements. She's agile, deft, appears to be smart with the orders she's been barking for the last hour. People run back and forth to the mine while she smelts. She might be the first challenge. Good thing I have my bow and arrow.
I prefer my magic, but arrows are more agile and easier to send from afar. All the guards down below make me nervous, so I sit up here like a sneaky assassin and shoot from above.
The arrow pierces the woman's shoulder. Damn. I missed. She turns, snarling in her human form, the throws the axe.
I figured she might be throwing it at the wind. There's no way she can see me. But soon as I think that thought the rock next to me is hit with the axe. She screams again and runs at me with fire magic in her hands.
I leap from above and fling electricity at her. The power, long forgotten for some time, races down my right arm and flies over to her form. She's ashes in seconds.
That was easy. All of it was easy. Almost too easy.
"Up there! Forget the sweetroll, Carl, we have a murder!"
Oops, spoke too soon. Looks like someone was watching. I leap high, aiming for the town center so I can get to the stables faster. Instead they overpower me. Guards race down every street corner, out of every store, who knew this town had so many damn guards?
They surround me. I swallow the last sinking feeling I have. I remember what happened last time. True to form, power races from my hearts and down my arms. My hands are engulfed in it…but it doesn't leave me.
You completed the contract. So, I give you a choice.
How nice. "Get back, or I turn you to ash like that woman up there." I growl.
Some guards stay behind, two move forward and grab my arms. They both scream in unison and step back, jolting and shaking. The other guards part ways as I walk forwards with the orb of electricity in my hands. "I said get away!"
More guards arrive just in time for the party, but I see the object of my desire. The carriage sits twelve feet away. "Get away and you won't get hurt…I…I don't have control of this."
That makes them take a good step back. "Are you cursed?" One yells from the crowd.
"Yep. I'm good and cursed alright."
"A healer is near here. We can find him and have him suppress the power!" Another guard yells.
"No can do, that never worked before."
"I order you to stop." A guard, probably the captain stands in front of me. He holds out his sword. "Stop right where you are and make the Sparks go away."
Like I could if I wanted. "I said I have no control, so you'll just have to swallow what little pride you have and back. Off."
"Never-" his words are cut in half by his body splitting in half. Shit. I aimed and tried to send a little bit of sparks, looks like I sent the whole voltage. All fear of electrocution gone, the guards rush me. I leap over them but not without some falling to ash where I walk. This is definitely not going as planned.
"We need to leave!" I yell to the carriage driver. He looks at me in utter fear with the storm now engulfing me. Electricity zaps around me and the guards like thunderstorm in the heat of summer. One of them lunges and gets zapped into Oblivion. It's like they never learn.
It's when I see a sweetroll go flying that I realize this is a losing battle on my part. They all die, and I get away. Or I overpower them, get through the mob, and only leave a few casualties. There is no way I will be going back to jail.
Or you tear them all apart, drink their blood dry, then wring their entrails around the roads of this city so everyone knows who you are.
You'd be forgiven if you thought that was Voice. Nope. The dark and thunderously deep voice of Molag Bal fills my mind. I grit my teeth, "What do you want?"
Just to watch some blood spill. You've become quite interesting in the last twenty-four hours. He chuckles.
This is the last person I want to hear from. Every time I see him, he wants to show me the memory of my killing Vorstag.
Not today. I think you have enough fuel for nightmares.
The guards freeze. All of them in some pose that shows they were ready to fight me or run away. The temptation to move them so they wake up in lewd or funny poses overwhelm me. But I have to keep the jokester inside back.
Only if you kill them after. He laughs.
"Ignore everything Molag Bal says. If it were up to him, you'd be tearing through Skyrim as a serial killer." A hooded figure stands next to the carriage, her head lifts and I barely recognize her eyes. The ravens sit on the trees surrounding us. I didn't know I would see Nocturnal so soon.
"Isn't that what I already am? I just executed three people for no good reason." I step over a guard who fell trying to catch his sweetroll. At least he's still breathing.
A booming laugh comes from the tall guy next to her. If it's any reassurance, Molag Bal, in all his bulk and evil being, looks less menacing in the light. He bares his teeth. Still haven't figured out that smile.
"Yes, we know the Night Mother has taken you to the Dark Brotherhood and has you completing contracts for them." Nocturnal says, she mindlessly pets the raven on her outstretched arm.
"Doing well so far." Molag Bal crosses his arms.
Forget about them. Get in the carriage and get away now. Voice pleads. She's not actually begging. But I can feel the disdain oozing from her presence.
Nocturnal's head snaps up at that. "Do you know what she wants?"
I sneer, "I know as much as you do." Looks like the Daedric Princes were doing a little investigating but haven't gotten far at all.
"We are trying. We know that as we speak, her coffin is being transported to the Dark Brotherhood sanctuary." Nocturnal watches me. I feel all the guards still frozen behind me. We're running out of time.
"If I could trap Potema and offer her up. Couldn't I do the same with the Night Mother?" I glance at Molag Bal.
His nostrils flare and gives me a grimace, "The Night Mother is a very different creature. If that is your plan at all then good luck. I'll enjoy watching you get yourself skinned alive while trying to do that."
Voice latches onto me. My legs move without my will and soon I'm sitting on the back of the carriage. Nocturnal reaches out and touches my forehead.
"Be safe, Nightingale, we are watching. I will come to you if we find anything. Watch your surroundings. Stay strong." Her eyes plead to me. This is it. Once they leave, I'm not sure when I'll see them again. Any of the Daedric Princes. I can see the truth in her eyes. If she speaks then Voice will hear. I clasp her hand and kiss it.
"Thank you."
She nods. Molag Bal laughs then turns his predatory gaze the guards behind us. I don't see what happens next, because I fall asleep. On the way to Solitude, I'm somewhere else. I used to hate this sort of body snatching. But now I embrace it.
Sheogorath passes me a mug of mint tea. "I heard Lady Death has you in her grasp."
I take a sip, needs more sugar. "Why can't Nocturnal and Molag Bal be here?"
He laughs, nearly falling out of his cozy purple chair. The study room is filled with bookshelves, a sitting place, and a fireplace that is now warming my toes. Not really what I expected for the home of the Prince of Madness.
"Nocturnal had to save you from yourself. And Molag Bal always loves to watch some bloodshed. No, I'm taking you here because I have a message." He blinks, "I think."
"Nocturnal already told me." I say.
"She did now, did she? What was it?" His eyes fill with mischief.
"That I have to stay strong. I don't think you guys will be coming for me again soon." Voice growls possessively and my heart sinks with it.
"Is that so? I'll have to check if that was part of the directions. If they were, I wasn't listening." He shrugs.
"Wait, directions? You guys are actually organized?"
He nearly spits his tea, "Of course! How else would we have surpassed many a millennia?!"
"Okay so spill, what's happened at the meetings, what's happened with talk of the Night Mother? What should I do?" I remember the first time I saw Sheogorath, he nearly ripped my head off until he saw what the Night Mother could do. Then he was all action.
He blinks, "I'm not sure. As I said, I wasn't listening. I was too busy try pestering Molag Bal, he would look absolutely atrocious with an ugly sweater, wouldn't he?" He smirks.
I'm taken aback, "You don't have any advice?"
"No, not right now at least. I guess I could tell you next time you brew some tea it needs more peppermint, that's the best!" He grabs the teapot with the snarling heads carved in it. The platter it sat on held two more teacups, a bottle of honey, and some cream. "More tea?"
"Why am I here?" I feel the minutes ticking by. Soon, I will be in Solitude.
He laughs, "So serious! All the time, so serious! Always a crisis! I merely just wanted to have some tea with you before you go."
I was right, "What is she planning?"
He tsks, "I can't tell you because I don't know. What I do know is soon, we'll be pulling up to your sanctuary on a cliff, and your little immortal life will be in a world of trouble. Do you want more tea or not? It's getting cold."
I grumble but I hold out my cup, at least there was honey for it.
Cicero's Journal Entry
12th of Evening Star, 4E 201
We are so close to home. I can feel it. Their heartbeats pulse in waiting. Oh, Mother, I hope they welcome you with open arms! I hope there is cake and celebration ready! Just for you…